OL (office ladies), Gyaru, gravia idoru, kyoiku mama etc. etc.
Why do Japanese women generally have shorter and finer eyelashes than Europeans?
Don’t know, but I imagine it is due to Asian hair also being finer, more fragile and more sparse than European
Why do some women put their make up on in the train?
It seems to me there is a lot less of this since the advent of mobile phone TV, so maybe itis more boredom than time saving
Why are there female members of the Jieitai (self-defence force) if they aren’t allowed to take part in combat?
Why aren’t women allowed on combat operations?
Officially, because they could be raped by enemy troopswomen
Why did Japanese women paint their teeth black? Second attempt
“in order to magnify the brightness of their snow-like complexions” Geishas, Berenice Geoffroy-Schneiter, pg 11
When you see women out for coffee, why is there usually one who does most of the talking?
In Japan, even friends have hierachies, and the older etc friend can use that to chatter away and never listen if they are that kind of person. This is even more so when they met because of being in the same PTA etc, especially if conversation gets onto organisational matters
Why are hula and flamenco so popular with Japanese women?
Because dancing gives a sense of femininity and/ or eroticism that is missing from their romance free lives, and hula and flamenco are better than ballroom dancing because no men are necessary. Spanish and Hawaiian are also two great escape fantasies.
Why do gaijin (foreign) guys who could never score at home always link up in Japan?
Popular theories usually mention how sad the average Japanese salaryman is and the gaijin boyfriend being just a fashion accessory, free English conversation partner or novelty item for a Japanese girl to impress her friends with. Other possibilities include the Japanese girlfriend feeling freer due to not being restricted by the Japanese language (no way to say I love you in normal conversation!) and his family being several thousand miles away. I believe the main reason is that the gaijin male quickly convinces himself that he can throw off his lack of success at home, and so he does- pure self-belief.
How do Japanese girls eat a mainly western diet and stack up the donuts and yet mostly stay slim?
Their diet in their first few years of life until they discover creamy pasta and McDonald’s? Genetics? Bulimia? If so, it’s a well hidden secret.
Why do Japanese girls have bendy legs?
Their parents encourage them to stand up too young (the sons are more spoilt so don’t have the same problem)
Why do Japanese girls walk in high heels with their knees bent?
It’s (subconsciously) to stop their hips swinging.
Why do the Japanese, especially girls, stare at foreigners?
As a foreigner, you are outside the system and so people feel free in a way they wouldn’t usually (and being out of the loop, you are free too). Also, staring at guys is not seen as a come on as someone who is interested would act coy and avoid eye contact. In Japan, you can tell when a guy in the office fancies you when they never address you directly during work drinks. Staring at foreign girls could be due to a general obsession with appearance and fashion- although less often, you will see Japanese women staring at other Japanese women who stand out in some way (tall, glamorous, odd etc.).
Why are some Japanese women so precious about their white skin?
Just as in Europe since the Middle Ages, having white skin has been a sign that you are rich enough to not go out and work in the sun. As the sign of wealth is becoming being able to afford to take tropical holidays instead, this is gradually changing.
Why did Japanese women blacken their teeth and why did they stop doing it?
Showing your white teeth was thought to be like showing the white of your bones. The blackening liquid was also thought to preserve the teeth. The practice was outlawed in the Meiji era in order to not offend foreign visitors or more generally to gain their acceptance as a Westernized and therefore equal nation.
Why do some Japanese girls do the “dinosaur walk” with shopping bags on the inside of their elbows rather than in their hands?
The bags would touch the ground otherwise??
Why are some Japanese old ladies so bent over?
Planting rice and- or lack of calcium from a traditional milk-free diet
Why is it okay to wear a tiny mini skirt or hot pants but not stomach, shoulders or cleavage?
Maybe they get used to tiny skirts at school. Legs are also not a big erotic focus in Japan
Why do Japanese women shave their faces?
How did Japan change from a country where the mother-in-law bullies her sons wife to one where the bullying happens the other way round?
Why do polite Japanese female voices, e.g. tour guides, seem so unnatural?
Although Japanese is not really a tonal language, dictionaries of tones of words do exist. People trying to speak with the precise, ‘correct’ dictionary pronunciation therefore sound unnatural.
bearaddict said,
January 21, 2008 at 12:10 pm
dude, these posts are retarded. do you actually know any japanese? because most of this sounds like you making stuff up off the top of your head. these are neither factual nor things japanese commonly think/believe.
alexcase said,
January 21, 2008 at 1:21 pm
If you’ve never noticed the ugly gaijin with stunning Japanese girlfriends, skinny girls with a stacked up tray in Mr Donuts, bendy legs and bent knees, middle aged women with carrying parasols on their bikes or the dinosaur walk, you are living in a different Japan to me!! All the questions come off forums I have read over the years. Explanations come from:
Gaijin- last one is mine (and fairly obvious to anyone who has ever been “on a roll” of any sort in their lives), others are from conversations with Japanese and/ or gaijin or off forums, with a tiny bit of influence from history books that mention this from the very first Westerners in both the 16th and 19th centuries.
Skinny girls- I don’t know, hence all the question marks
Bendy legs- my mum , who is a nurse
Bent knees- me, but if you look closely at how the Russians and the Japanese are walking in their heels in Roppongi you will soon notice the difference- and those are Japanese who work in the “hospitality trade”
Staring- All mine, no doubt about any of them
Skin- a book I read a couple of years ago, but then it could hardly be coincidence could it. Same thing exists in Thailand, India and North Africa.
Black teeth- Recent book, Donald Ritchie I think, but can’t remember
Dinosaur walk- mine, but not sure, hence the question mark
tekaz said,
March 25, 2008 at 7:44 pm
i must agree, most of this seems like pure bullshit. i’ve lived in japan for a total of 18 months (both in tokyo and osaka) and most of what i read on here is new to me… i don’t agree with the ugly gaijin getting hot japanese girls theory. i do somewhat agree with the hierarchy while out for coffee theory, i saw a lot of that and experienced that first-hand too. i don’t remember seeing any girls with “bendy” knees or odd-looking walking in high heels; they looked like any other asian girl walking in high heels. the staring thing covers more than just japanese girls; all japanese people who haven’t seen a foreigner before tend to stare. none of this information seems factual or based on anything tangible… besides, any socio-cultural question requires more than just a one-sentence answer. in fact, most require a lot of thinking and first-hand experience in order to properly answer it. that’s just my take on it but i’m quite sure most people would agree.
Casual said,
March 6, 2009 at 7:11 am
I majored in Japanese and Japanese culture, have lived in Japan for years, and am married to a Japanese girl. The above questions are the same ones that have popped into my head. It’s all good.
Casual said,
March 6, 2009 at 7:15 am
Oh, but the staring thing…we’re foreigners!!! Of course they will stare!! Also, as for the bendy knees – seiza. In Japan many Japanese grow up sitting on their knees while eating dinner or while watching T.V, thus you have the bowleggedness thing. Less common now than before.
s. said,
April 11, 2009 at 7:05 pm
goofy looking white trash don’t get hot japanese girls. please stop promoting that myth. they get the the ugly cumbuckets that the rest of japanese society wouldn’t touch with a 50 foot pole, and you know it.
crella said,
April 18, 2009 at 4:04 pm
How can you miss the ones in high heels?
I often think I’ll open a charm school and teach Japanese girls how to walk well in heels (before I get too old to myself, har!)
Bowlegged girls are becoming rarer but there are still quite a few out there. Take a look in the ads for ‘idea shouhin’ or ads in the back of magazines and you’ll see ads for belts to put around the hips to fix bowlegs (‘O kayaku’ as the space between the shins is in the shape of an ‘O’). Cable TV channels also hawk sneakers they claim will cure it. Sitting seiza is one cause.
The phrase ‘dinosaur walk’ totally cracked me up, I’d wanted a name for that for a while, I didn’t know what to call it! I see it a lot in Ashiya and other tony neighborhoods, I think it’s to protect those 18,000 nail art treatments and to leave hands free for texting, if my observations are worth anything
I have no affiliation with site admin ( I just enjoy the site) but I’d like to put in my 2 yen and say, disagree with anything you like, but the nastiness seems unwarranted to me………….
jim tanner said,
June 12, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Interesting questions. I am surprised at the comments of not noticing the bendy legs or strange walking in high heels. I am new to Japan, only here on holidays for 5 weeks but I noticed the bent legs and strange walking in high heels in the first days. However, I didn’t notice people staring at me any more than anywhere else.
Can’t see that sitting in Seiza would create the bad legs as many men should have theproblem but I have seen it mainly in women. My wife is Japanese and is aware of the bow-leggedness but couldn’t offer an explanation. I don’t think the ’standing too early’ explanation is correct. My wife tells me many women do the pigeon toed stuff to look cute as supposedly japanese men find it cute and girly
Japanese mother-in-laws still bully the sons wife from what my wife told me and has experienced. I would guess they don’t think anyone will ever be good enough for their spoilt, precious, neutered sons. Thanks for trying to answer the questions.
Paul Woodcock said,
November 5, 2009 at 8:33 am
Interesting… Some I agree with, some I dont. For example, part right about gaijin boyfriends having more confidence. Also, Japanese society is changing. Girls are becoming more independent. But this is not passing over to the men, who want a wife who will cook/clean/etc like mother did. However, gaijin men tend to be more accepting of a woman having a job. A Japanese colleague of mine got pressured into marriage, and since has had to quit her job. Also, if a Japanese woman does something nice, a Japanese man, quite often, takes it as a given. We tend to be more grateful.
With regards the bendy legs, I thought that was down to the correct seiza style of sitting on your knees so much, and maybe a lighter in calcium diet…
Eyelashes. Well, have to totally disagree. Japanese tend to have thicker hair than western hair. However, the eyelashes look smaller (They arent) because Japanese have double-hooded eyes. Thats what gives them the almond shape. The extra fold of skin helps hide the lashes, making them look shorter!
crella said,
November 18, 2009 at 6:53 am
“Can’t see that sitting in Seiza would create the bad legs as many men should have the problem but I have seen it mainly in women.
Men, at any funeral, or other formal occasion, quickly switch from seiza to agura-gaeri (sitting cross-legged) while the women remain sitting seiza. Flower arranging lessons are all seiza, as are tea ceremony lessons. Women spend a lot more time sitting seiza than men do. One other cause seems to be inadequate musculature.
The girls in high heels just haven’t been taught, mothers here don’t coach their daughters….and they can’t practice in the house either.
alexcase said,
November 18, 2009 at 11:14 pm
“Japanese tend to have thicker hair than western hair” I believe it is a scientific fact that Europeans have more follicles on their head, with Asians in the middle and Africans the least- which just goes to show that it doesn’t make much difference in actual appearance I guess!
All good points as ever Crella. Still not convinced that seiza is a major cause on its own because I see if anything more bendy legs in girls in their 20s than in their mothers’ generation (or maybe I’m just more likely to notice their legs??) but obviously the amount of seiza is going down. I think you might have a point with the musculature- girls don’t do much exercise of any sort nowadays.
alexcase said,
November 18, 2009 at 11:15 pm
PS
I’ve also decided that my mum’s standing up early theory is rubbish, having heard her other theories on child rearing since I had one of my own…
ohiokimono said,
November 19, 2009 at 6:04 am
“Why did Japanese women paint their teeth black? ” – this is actually an ancient tradtion that is both an issue of beauty and religion. You can find it most commonly documented in historical imperial courts…
The blackening of the teeth was considered beautiful once – because teeth are exposed bone. In buddism, and other asian religions bone, and exposed bones are considered unclean. blackening ones teeth, covered up that exposed bone.
Some maiko (young geisha in training) – continue this traidtion when they are about to graduate from being a maiko into being a geisha. Oiran, and Tayuu were also known to have blackened their teeth.
At the time, it was also common to shave they eyebrows and redraw them higher on the forehead, and pluck the hair on your head back to give you a larger forehead – again, beauty.